Hans Oestermann

Kapitänleutnant (Crew 32)


Successes
13 ships sunk, total tonnage 55,659 GRT
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 490 GRT

Born  19 May 1913 Bremervörde
Died  31 Jul 1942(29)north-east of Boston, USA


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Ranks

1 Jul 1934 Fähnrich zur See
1 Sep 1935 Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Jan 1936 Leutnant zur See
1 Oct 1937 Oberleutnant zur See
1 Feb 1940 Kapitänleutnant

Decorations

U-boat Commands

U-boatFromTo
U-151 15 Jan 1941 21 Jul 1941   No war patrols 
U-754 28 Aug 1941 31 Jul 1942  (+)  3 patrols (135 days) 

Hans Oestermann joined the German Navy (Reichsmarine) in 1933. He spent almost 3 years as the First Watch Officer on the destroyer Z 7 Hermann Schoemann from Sept 1937 to June 1940. In July he began U-boat training, finishing in Nov and then he started his U-boat commander training with the 24th (Training) Flotilla which he finished in Dec 1940.

In Dec 1940 Kapitänleutnant Hans Oestermann was sent to U-boat familiarization (Baubelehrung) until 15 Jan 1941 when he took commissioned the new "duck" U-151. He left the boat 6 months later on 21 July and began another familiarization until 28 Aug 1941 when he commissioned the new and larger U-754 at Wilhelmshaven.

Oestermann was very successful with the U-754 and sank 13 ships for over 55,000 tons during 3 patrols in the North Atlantic.

Kptlt. Hans Oestermann was lost on the 3rd patrol on the U-754 when the boat was destroyed by a Canadian Hudson aircraft (RCAF Sqdn. 113) north of Boston, USA. 43 dead (all hands lost).

Sources

Busch, R and Röll, H-J. (1998). German U-boat commanders of World War II.

Patrol info for Hans Oestermann

 U-boat Departure Arrival  
1. U-754 30 Dec 1941  Kiel  9 Feb 1942  Brest  Patrol 1,42 days
2. U-754 7 Mar 1942  Brest  25 Apr 1942  Brest  Patrol 2,50 days
3. U-754 19 Jun 1942  Brest  31 Jul 1942  Sunk  Patrol 3,43 days
3 patrols, 135 days at sea

Ships hit by Hans Oestermann

Date U-boat Name of ship Tons Nat. Convoy
21 Jan 1942U-754 Belize2,153nw
22 Jan 1942U-754 William Hansen1,344nw
25 Jan 1942U-754 Mount Kitheron3,876grON-55
27 Jan 1942U-754 Icarion4,013grON-53
23 Mar 1942U-754 British Prudence8,620brHX-181
31 Mar 1942U-754 Menominee441am
31 Mar 1942U-754 Ontario (d.)490am
31 Mar 1942U-754 Allegheny914am
31 Mar 1942U-754 Barnegat914am
1 Apr 1942U-754 Tiger5,992am
3 Apr 1942U-754 Otho4,839am
6 Apr 1942U-754 Kollskegg9,858nw
29 Jun 1942U-754 Waiwera12,435br
28 Jul 1942U-754 Ebb260am
 56,149

13 ships sunk (55,659 tons) and 1 ship damaged (490 tons).

Legend
We have a picture of this vessel.
(d.) means the ship was damaged.


About ranks and decorations
Ranks shown in italics are our database inserts based on the rank dates of his crew comrades. The officers of each crew would normally have progressed through the lower ranks at the same rate.

Men who sank over 50,000 tons

Media links


German U-boat Commanders of World War II

Busch, Rainer and Röll, Hans-Joachim

Listing of all U-boat commanders


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